Security plan revamped

Thursday

Sep 25, 2014 at 4:03 PMSep 25, 2014 at 4:03 PM

By Lindsey O’Donnelllhodonnell@wickedlocal.comIt has been almost two years since 20 children and six adults were murdered in the Newtown Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, shocking the country and rousing discussions about school security.Westford and Littleton school administrators have responded to the tragedy by re-evaluating their emergency staff and student safety protocols.Both towns have implemented the ALICE program into their school systems in the past year. ALICE, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate, encourages students and staff to methodically work together to survive a school shooting.

While previous policies promoted classrooms to go into a lockdown mode during a school shooting, the ALICE program encourages students to evacuate the building, barricade their classroom, or distract the shooter, depending on the situation.Westford Dean of Students Bob Ware brought the program to the district’s attention last year."The old traditional lockdown method isn’t working," said Ware. "ALICE just makes sense. We spent the entire year rolling it out and educating staff and students."So far, Ware and safety officials have educated staff and students about the ALICE program at Westford Academy, and the Stony Brook and Blanchard middle schools.In February, Westford Academy conducted a drill that portrayed a school shooting. All students were given advance notice of the drill and there were no surprises, emphasized Ware.During the drill, the school first played out a situation using the original lockdown protocol.The school was shut down, and students and teachers stayed in their classrooms. A staff member pretending to be a shooter came into each classroom and "shot" teachers by throwing ping-pong balls at them.Afterwards, the school assembled and found that more than 50 percent of teachers had been "shot," said Ware.During the second drill, students were encouraged to try the various methods promoted by the ALICE program, such as barricading their classrooms to hinder a shooter, evacuating the building, or directly distracting the shooter.

During this drill, only one teacher was "shot" by a ping-pong ball, said Ware."We’re trying to set up a scenario where kids are working with teachers to get an effective plan in place so they’ll be fully prepared," said Ware.Ware added that in the upcoming school year, the administration would focus on teaching this program to elementary students in town, although he hopes to use a different, more age-appropriate method of educating younger students.When asked if he thought Westford schools were safe, Ware stated the administration was doing everything that was necessary to prevent a disaster."We’re doing good work here," he said. "I have to give [Superintendent Bill] Olsen credit. While most superintendents are avoiding these topics, he’s making it a priority."Along with safety procedures for students, Westford officials are keeping a constant eye on school building security features.

The entrance of each Westford school building is equipped with an electronic lock and security camera, allowing the main office to view intruders who are not staff members, according to Superintendent Bill Olsen.Main office workers have been instructed to be alert for strangers who are wearing big coats, particularly in the cold weather, who are carrying large satchels, or who might act upset or agitated.Olsen added that side doors at all of the town’s nine public schools remain locked at all times.The town formed a task force last year made up of the town manager, superintendent, police chief, and other administrators who meet regularly to review town and school building security measures."We want to be prepared for any kind of situation, even a train derailment," said Olsen.Although Littleton’s school system is much smaller than Westford’s system, its four schools have a similar safety process."Our staff and students are trained with safety procedures," said Littleton Superintendent Kelly Clenchy.Last year, Littleton school administrators hired a school security consulting firm to recommend any upgrades regarding safety measures.As part of the firm’s recommendations, the district implemented the ALICE program last spring. Safety administrators will train staff and students about the program in October.Pablo Fernandez, the Littleton School Resources Officer, stressed that school safety in town is "truly a team effort with many entities."According to Fernandez, all officers in the police department have been trained on how to respond to a school threat.Fernandez and Officer Ashley Brooks are trained to teach students about ALICE concepts."In terms of communicating with the schools, there are radios provided to each school and gives them the ability to communicate," said Fernandez. "We also encourage communication through modern-day technology.""Our involvement in school safety security protocols is being involved in the safety and security committee that is made up of a member from the school committee, the fire chief, the administrators from all four schools and the business manager for the school district," he added.Each of the Littleton district’s four buildings has a security camera at the front entrance, as well as locked doors so strangers cannot enter during school times.Clenchy said the administration has shelter-in-place drills frequently with students and staff."We do have staff fully trained and certified to act during a crisis," he said.Follow Lindsey O’Donnell on Twitter @lhodonnellWL and the Westford Eagle @Westford_Eagle